Old Film=Speed Loss?

[rover]

Well, I was in my local shop this morning with the intent on buying some Neopan 1600. Intent? Yes, the good and bad news was that the film they had was expired, 11/04 date. Why good? The owner gave me the two rolls I was intending on buying because it was expired and he didn't have any fresh rolls. 😎

So, now I have these two nice rolls of Neopan 1600. My intent was to shoot them at 800 and develop with DDX per the Massive Development chart time and temp. But since the film is expired should I expect that it has lost some speed? If so, how should I compensate for that, how much extra exposure would you give it?

Consider that it was not stored in a freezer, just on a shelf.

 

[wlewisiii]

Possibly, since it was shelf stored. However, if you were already planning on shooting it at EI800 rather than at it's nominal ISO, I'd say go ahead and try that EI. Odds are it will still be fine in that case.

William

 

[kaiyen]

I would shoot at 800 and develop as if it was 1600. Something like that. Higher speed film like that could easily lose an entire stop of speed to increased base fog in that time, esp. if not refrigerated.

allan

 

[R Alan]

When the nice neighbor lady across the street saw me out taking photos in the front yard, she gave me a roll of Plus-X that was in her junk drawer since 1988. I shot and developed it normally, and it came out real, real thin. Probably 3 stops thin.

Maybe shoot the first few frames of the roll on a test subject, then develop those few frames first. Check the exposures and adjust your develop time for the remainder of your good shots.

Roy

 

[Doug]

As Allen suggested, I'd give it more exposure (due to loss of sensiivity) AND more development (due to loss of contrast), and his fog comment is good too... I believe there are developers that inhibit fog more than others... I expect it will be grainier too even absent the extra development. But, certainly shoot the first roll with a bit of bracketing and see how it develops before shooting the second.

 

[jcline]

I actually happened on a $1 old bulk loader recently full of Plus-X... From playing around, I'm thinking I should shoot at about 25 ASA and developing as prescribed gives kinda a flat negative, maybe I should tack on some development time and see if I can work a little more contrast out of it.

Better question is it worth it... But I would hate to throw away 50 feet of film, even if it is older than dirt.

 

[rover]

Thanks guys.

All the ideas are helpful, and shooting the first roll with lots of bracketing to see what is best for the second is the common sense thing that I most likely would have forgotten trying to get too technical about this.